SOCCER; Ronaldo Sets a Goal-Scoring Record as Brazil Keeps On Going

By ROGER COHEN

Published: June 28, 2006

Ronaldo looked overweight and distracted when Brazil opened play in the tournament two weeks ago. But on Tuesday against Ghana, he executed with typical panache in breaking the World Cup scoring record and setting Brazil on its way to a 3-0 victory.

The victory gave Brazil a berth in the quarterfinals for the fourth straight time and eliminated the last African team remaining in the tournament. Brazil will face France on Saturday in Frankfurt.

With three goals in this World Cup, Ronaldo has 15 in his career, one more than Gerd M?r, the West German star whose record had stood since 1974.

Brazil created a comfortable lead by the end, but Ghana displayed some of the fine attacking skills it had shown in the group phase and often troubled Brazil despite being unable to get the ball in the net.

''The score may suggest it was easy, but it was not,'' Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. Ronaldo broke through in the fourth minute. With Ghana trying to push its offside trap almost to the halfway line, the Brazilian midfielder Kak?as left with plenty of space to direct the ball behind the defense and into Ronaldo's path. Ronaldo had only goalkeeper Richard Kingson to beat. He feinted right, took a quick step over the ball and moved left all in one movement, leaving Kingson sprawled on the ground as he ran forward to tap the ball into an empty net.

Ghana, which advanced from Group E with victories over the Czech Republic and the United States, responded by pushing forward with its distinctive quick-passing game. It came closest to scoring in the 41st minute, when John Mensah, a big defender, met a corner kick with a crashing header three yards from the goal.

The ball seemed bound for the back of the net, but somehow the Brazilian goalkeeper, Dida, got his right foot to it.

Within minutes, Ghana's near miss was even more costly. Kak?nd Cafu, Brazil's right back, broke down the right flank. Adriano appeared to be offside as Cafu fired in a low cross, but the linesman's flag stayed down as Adriano put the ball into the net with his thigh.

The goal, coming against the run of play and right before the halftime whistle, was clearly demoralizing to Ghana, and the team never looked as dangerous in the second half.

Ghana Coach Ratomir Dujkovic said he was thrown out of the game at halftime for criticizing the referee, Lubos Michel of Slovakia.

Four Ghanaian players were given yellow cards in the first half, and it seemed unlikely that the team would finish with 11 men on the field. Sure enough, in the 80th minute, Asamoah Gyan, a striker, was given a second yellow for diving in the penalty area.

Brazil was dominant in the last 10 minutes, and Z?oberto slipped through yet another offside trap to flick the ball over Kingson and tap it into the open net. When asked if Brazil was playing beautiful soccer, Parreira said, ''History does not remember beautiful football as much as it remembers champions.''

Brazil has shown tremendous skill and fluidity in patches, but has not consistently played at its highest level. Defense was supposedly its weakness, but that has proved to be its anchor; Brazil has conceded one goal in four matches. Dujkovic called Brazil ''unbeatable.''

Parreira heaped praise on Ronaldo, predicting his impact would be large in the quarterfinal and beyond.

''The big guys are coming to the quarterfinals,'' Parreira said, according to The Associated Press. ''It is getting closer and closer. It's getting tougher and tougher.''

Photo: Sulley Muntari, right, a midfielder for Ghana, grimaced as he collided with Brazil goalkeeper Dida in the second half of their game in the Round of 16 at the World Cup yesterday. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images)